We can dance if we want to …

The past two days I’ve been indulging in one of my guilty pleasures: dancing. Now, the average British male doesn’t dance, or if forced, they dance like this:

I have many times been complimented on my fancy footwork, and my ability to ‘riff’ off another dancer. I like to think I dance like this:

Admittedly, when I really let go, I can end up dancing a little like this though:

My parents were dancing instructors (for Scottish / English country dancing), I grew up watching Grease and on a diet of Saturday afternoon repeats of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies, my first girlfriend was obsessed by Dirty Dancing and at one time i could pretty much do the whole routine, and these days I spend a lot of time working in Central / Latin America, which ultimately leads to evenings on the dance floor, in countries where it is not seen as odd, or unmanly, for guys to get up and go dancing. So this may explain where my dancing feet come from.

Anyway, this past Friday I went out with a group of my younger, more adventurous, besties for an evening of micro-brews and fun. The evening ended up at a club, and I found myself (a) the only guy dancing in a group of close to a dozen women and (b) the subject of some jealousy from the non-dancing menfolk in our group. So I had a little impromptu dance class, so now I'm imparting thios advice for the wider world:

Dance tips for guys who wanna dance wid the ladies

(a)  Move your frickin’ feet. Do not stand immobile like a tree rooted to the dance floor. Learn a basic salsa foot pattern, and move those feet.

(b)  Move your hips too. And your knees, bends them. Seriously. That’s what makes the sexy.

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c)  Music has a beat/rhythm. Listen to it. Move with it. Don’t dance in a sequence of random movements that have no relationship with the music. At its base, most music has a rhythm that follows a heartbeat. Listen to your heart.

(d)  Relax. Don’t over think things. Don’t get self-conscious (actually that‘s probably good advice for life in general).

(e)  Be confident (ditto on the general life advice). Don’t let the stares from the non-dancing guys standing around the edge of the dance floor make you self-conscious. They’re just jealous that you’re dancing with the ladies.

(f)   Concentrate on the lower half of your body. Let your arms do what they will. Too many guys dance concentrating on their arms to the exclusion of everything else.

(g)  But … do let your arms move – unless you are riverdancing.

(h)  Shoulders should move sinuously and smoothly. Not violently popping up and down like you’re doing some sort of strange abs workout.’

(i)    Sometimes, less is more.

This has been a public service announcement …